


collective unconscious

by astroalternative



Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Story Series | Digimon World Series
Genre: Emotional Baggage, Gen, Light Angst, Post-Canon, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-06-09 14:06:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19477456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astroalternative/pseuds/astroalternative
Summary: Sometimes, Ryuji Mishima couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something cosmically wrong with his life.





	collective unconscious

Sometimes, Ryuji Mishima couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something cosmically _wrong_ with his life.

In theory, everything was going fine for him. Great, even. He had a good job, good friends, hell, he even had his own apartment these days. It was almost comically perfect, all things considered.

That didn’t stop the empty feeling in his chest though.

Coming home to an empty house started to freak him out, and not even in a “not used to living alone” way. It felt like someone should be there— someone important. He wondered if maybe he just missed living at home, but a quick trip home found that to not be the case. He loved his parents, he really did, but they definitely weren’t the lost piece here.

Having people over helped, a little. Hudie members came by often enough, but sometimes that made it worse. Made it more obvious that something was _missing_ here, and he just couldn’t put his finger on it.

Getting out of the house was an option, but there were only so many places he could go. The internet café was where he already spent most of his time, and really, something about that place bothered him too. That store room in the back, especially. It felt… bittersweet, maybe? Not quite sad, or even depressing. Whatever the feeling, he didn’t like it. Regardless, he didn’t like being in the café at all when it was empty. At that point, he might as well be at home.

So he threw himself into his work— became a model employee. Staying late on nights that he really, _really_ did have to, coming in earlier than anyone else. His coworkers just thought he was passionate about the job, and he _was_ , but even he wasn’t that much of a workaholic. Not usually, at least. 

Chitose noticed the change, because of course he would. He knew him too well not to realize that something was going on.

“Something’s going on, right?” He had said one day, sitting on the couch while he made them dinner.

“What makes you say that?”

“You’re not a subtle guy, Ryuji.”

He was right, but that didn’t make this conversation any less uncomfortable.

“Things have just been weird lately, it’s nothing to worry about.” Maybe it wouldn’t have been anything to worry about if this hadn’t been going on for so long, but in actuality he wasn’t even sure how much he believed his own words. This had crossed far beyond the territory of just being weird.

He heard Chitose sigh behind him, “You’re not the only one that feels it, you know.”

Now that gave him pause.

“What do you mean?”

“It feels likes something’s missing.”

There was nothing to say to that, not really. Chitose must have thought the same, because he left it at that. Instead, he got up, pacing around the apartment while Ryuji kept his back to him. If they all felt it, then maybe it wasn't his imagination. But if no one else could place the source of their unease, then what could really be done?

“Hey,” Chitose piped up a few minutes later, “what’s up with this?”

He appeared at his side holding a small whale plush, looking equal parts amused and confused.

“Oh. Kinda forgot about that…” Ryuji shrugged, turning his attention back to cooking, “I bought it without really thinking about it.”

“Didn’t peg you for a guy to like having stuffed animals around.”

He wasn’t, that was for sure. For whatever reason though, it made him crack a smile when he saw it, and he might as well let himself indulge every now and then in a weird impulse purchase. 

Sometimes, Ryuji Mishima couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something cosmically _wrong_ with his life. But he was dealing with it as best he could.

**Author's Note:**

> The ending of Hacker's Memory hurt me but god if it isn't good fodder for some emo Ryuji character studies.


End file.
